A widely recognized shortfall in current battlefield awareness is the ability to adequately detect a sniper prior to firing a weapon or a terrorist using an automatic rifle. This shortfall is prominent for military operations in urban terrain, counter-improvised explosive device operations or for other similar operations. Conventional systems often have the ability to detect a gun after it has fired. However, unless the sniper misses, it may be too late for a soldier. Other conventional systems make use of microwave radar technology to detect guns but cannot determine the direction of the guns and require relatively large antennas for detection. As such, a system for detecting guns, such as those commonly used in armed conflicts, which can improve over these shortfalls in conventional systems is needed.